The present invention relates to the field of voice and data communication networks. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing PBX-integrated unified messaging services on a wide area network.
Private branch exchanges (“PBXs”) are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art. A typical PBX includes a collection of telephone extensions that receive and transmit telephone calls. The PBX is coupled to an outside telephone network such as a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”) via a set of trunk lines. As is known to those of ordinary skill in the art, PBX systems often provide voice messaging functionality via locally connected messaging equipment. For the purposes of the present invention, the term “PBX” may be used synonymously with a similar type of device known as a “KTS” (or key telephone system).
Traditional unified messaging equipment, where voice messages, fax messages and e-mail messages can be retrieved by telephone or Personal Computer (“PC”) using a web browser program (such as Microsoft™ Internet Explorer™) or an e-mail client program (such as Microsoft™ Outlook™) are known in the art. For corporate users with a corporate PBX, a traditional unified messaging system is typically installed at the corporate premise behind the corporate PBX. Traditional unified messaging systems suffer the problem of complex installations and substantial maintenance cost because of the need to integrate with the corporate PBX and corporate Information Technology (“IT”) infrastructures such as corporate e-mail server systems and corporate web server systems.
Independent unified messaging equipment which provide unified messaging capabilities without any PBX integration are also known in the art. These systems typically provide users with a unified messaging mailbox independent from the user's existing voice mailbox off his corporate PBX. Independent unified messaging systems suffer the problem that a corporate user would have to check two different mailboxes for his or her messages.
With the rapidly increasing popularity of global communication networks such as the switched backbone commonly referred to as the Internet, providing PBX-integrated unified messaging capabilities via such a switched backbone is desirable. As will be described in more detail in later in this document, the present invention provides a mechanism for corporate users to enjoy PBX-integrated unified messaging features without having to install on-premise unified messaging equipment. Instead, unified messaging features are delivered to the corporate users via the company's existing Internet connection from a network of high-end IP telephony messaging servers. In one embodiment, the present invention makes this possible through a combination of message gateways, message hosting servers, and the Internet. These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be presented in more detail in the following specification of the invention and in the associated figures.